Why Are We Building a Bridge?
Written By : Rev. Bruce Boyer
One of my favorite poems is “The Bridge Builder.” It describes a man in the twilight years of his life. The man’s relationship with Jesus has helped him overcome many challenges in his life. When he comes upon “a chasm, vast, deep, and wide,” he stops and builds a bridge so that others will also experience the love of Christ to overcome the challenges they will face.
The chasm is what separates people from knowing and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior — struggles, obstacles, and life challenges. Fountain of Life Church & Preschool is the bridge that leads people to a vast, deep & wide relationship with Jesus Christ. Without the bridge, future generations may never experience God’s peace, grace, and mercy, which have enriched our lives. I pray that everything about Fountain of Life Church & Preschool be a welcoming environment that brings more people to Christ. The result not only extends our table but builds a bigger Kingdom in Heaven.
And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” (Isaiah 57:14 NIV)
Why are we building the bridge? We’re building it for them.
The Bridge Builder
An old man going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide.
Through which was flowing a sullen tide
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build this bridge at evening tide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head;
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followed after me to-day
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been as naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”
By: Will Allen Dromgoole
Source: Father: An Anthology of Verse (EP Dutton & Company, 1931)